Happy Thursday morning friends! Today I'm happy to be rocking a new award post! Thanks so much to Jenn at Going the Distance for thinking of me!! Go check out her blog, its faboo and definitely in my regular blog reading rotation!

The rules are that I've got to answer some questions about myself and pass on to other fave bloggy friends. Get excited for a total Poodleist randomness...

1. What would you most like to change about yourself?I wish I could chill out more. I analyze things. I second guess myself. I like to make and stick to plans. I always am wishing for more in myself in life. I've got to cool it down and just be more mellow. Go with the flow more, ya know?

2. What is your theme song?

IDK, thats a hard one. Currently (like the rest of the damn country), I can't get enough of Call Me Maybe. It's just so infectious. Summer theme song is definitely Call Me Maybe. That's way too hard of a question for me to answer for my whole life. WAY TOO HARD.

3. One part of your life, a memory, action, etc. that you wish you could surgically remove from your brain?

Hands down, when as I worked as a Legal Assistant. For some idiot reason, I thought I wanted to go to law school, so I deferred my admissions and worked for a small firm for a year. Worst. Idea. Ever. It was so boring, one of the lawyers was so mean and the cases were so ludicrous. It was a dark time.

4. What generation do you wish you had been a part of?I wish I'd been a part of 1950's Mad Men-ish era.

I love the outfits, the hair... all of it. I think my body type would thrive in the longer skirt with a cinched waist silhouette. It feels so American glam to me. Also, the men aren't too shabby either.

5. What was your favorite childhood toy?

My little ponies. Thy were so magical. The had bright and beautiful manes and tails and they smelled like strawberries.

I still have around 10 of them on a shelf in my room (including the one above). I recently encountered a strawberry-scented car freshener thingy that smelled exactly like it. I wish I'd stolen the one I came across, I've yet to locate one similar...

6. What is your favorite housecleaning chore?Favorite? Hmmm, I'd have to say washing/changing my sheets. Though the actual chore is a huge pain, I love the feeling of clean, fresh, crisp sheets more than most people. I look forward to it more than is probably normal.

7. Do you Twitter?Eh. Sometimes. I'm kind of not that into it. Follow me at @Poodleistcasey. I'm much, much more into Instagram (@caseylhenry)

8. Any goals?

Right now I'm really focused on a health/fitness campaign. I'm kind of in a workout plateau and feel like I'm not really getting anywhere. Part of me just thinks its just time to accept my hereditary obstacles gifts, but I'm not there yet. Must press on. Spin bike and I have been BFFs these days. I've got to do better on the diet too. Wine and cheesey things beckon me and indulging is a nasty little habit of mine.

9. Do you really drink margaritas all the time?Though I find this one odd, the answer is yes. In fact, more of an emphatic "hell yes." As a Texan, I get my fill (and much more) of margaritas and tacos. I love them. I've recently been exploring the various skinny margarita options around town because, lets just face it, these hips only have one direction to go -- wider.

10. What is the ugliest car you've ever driven and were embarrassed to be seen in?

I really don't have an "ugly" one per se. My car needed tons of work a couple of years ago and I got stuck with a rental Kia Rio for SIX WEEKS. The thing rattled, didn't have power windows and was generally terrible. It wasn't ugly, but it sucked. I wanted to key it and blame a random stranger. This was also during the law firm era, so there could be some other unhappiness factors at work...

Anyway, on to happier topics... here are the bloggy pals I'd love to hand this over to. All of them brighten my day with their posts full of jokes, ideas, photos and thoughts. Check 'em out, yall!

This week I went with the girls to see Magic Mike and that was by far the best line. BY FAR. I love the plot device that is strippers/prostitutes having infinite wisdom and maturity deep down. It's probably one of my favorite movie themes. Just to set the stage: this happens in the first 5 mins of the flick:

Overall I liked it. But I have a couple of questions/knocks...

If his dream was to be a furniture builder, why didn't we ever see a shirtless Channing Tatum wielding a hammer? #majordisappointment

Why did his love interest have a sourpuss face on the whole movie?

I think she had plenty to smile about.

If you ignore the whole "lack of exciting plot twists" thing, there's a lot to love...

There's plenty of this:

And this:

Every SINGLE male stripper cliche was represented: cops, sailors, firemen, jungle guys, "its raining men", soldiers, doctors... ALL OF IT. I appreciated that bit of thoroughness.

My favorite element by far was Matthew McConaughey:

I have a feeling this movie was his professional dream. Not only did he get to take his clothes off and talk slow throughout it, he actually PLAYED THE BONGOS in his little stripper panties. He also said his famous "Alright, Alright, Alright" line a few times. I think he might be peaking.

Generally, Magic Mike was a really good use of my time. That's it and that's all.

I visited your I-35/Ben White location in Austin, TX today for a nice Spicy Cool Wrap combo with Spicy dressing. I was excited, frankly I'm getting excited talking about it right now. I returned to my office about 10 minutes away to unpack the contents of my bag and find no dressing included. I was heartbroken. The Spicy dressing really compliments the flavor of the wrap.

I made a substitution of a light Balsamic with some Sirachi sauce to capture the spicy flavor of the normal dressing & the creamy texture that I've grown to love in the Spicy dressing. It wasn't the same, I felt empty.

The food was very enjoyable as always, but the lack of dressing dropped my joy level like an Anvil in an old Looney Tunes episode. I'll be back, but I'm going to be honest my mouth is watering right now thinking of that dressing. A feeling that I will not be able to satisfy today.

Thank you for the rest of my meal, the only other knock was the abundance of "fry nuggets" as I call them instead of whole waffle fries which I have grown accustom to while visiting your establishments.

Yours truly,

Sam XXXXXX

It was written by the person I'm dating. Loveable, yet completely and totally ridiculous at once. A sauce lover like myself. #soulmates

Today my precious little nugget of a sister turns 21! Yahooo! She's waited patiently (mostly) and a long time for this day. She's the last one of her friends and is oh-so-ready to be able to join her 21-year-old buddies out on the town.

I'm sad to be missing the celebrations today... I mean come on, look at this face:

I'm still waiting for my homemade hat, btw.

Not only is she cute, but she's been known to be the life of the party....

And now that she's 21, I'm hoping for lots more sisters hijinks...which typically look like this:

Happy Happy Monday friends! This weekend I had a whirlwind trip around the fair city of Houston, TX, my hometown. I brought my favorite ginger along, who'd never seen any of the Bayou City's splendors. A little look at what we did...

Houston Museum of Natural Science

We went to see a traveling Titanic exhibit, which was cool, but we had a lot more fun in the newly-upgraded Paleontology Hall...

Hobbit Hole Cafe

Lord of the Rings-themed lunch locale. Nerd city. Someone was dorking out in there with his Houstony beer...

Obviously, absurd Dragon and Gandolf t-shirts were bought...

Wabash Feed Store

A random drop in to my favorite and strange mid-city country store. PUPPIES.

Water Wall Park

No iPhone photos taken, just real ones on the fancy camera... this is what it looks like:

It really is such a random thing.

McGonigels Mucky Duck to see Hayes Carll

This was actually a Father's Day gift to my dad, but lucky ginger got to tag along. We got AMAZING seats right up front. The music was great and the place was cool. Best part of the weekend...

Astros Game

Hot dogs at Minute Maid park on a rainy Sunday afternoon...

It was a great weekend! And, it was so nice to take in some hometown sights... I'm lucky to have all that to call home.

Happy Friday friends! I've had a cray-tastic work week and the beat is still going. I promise I am endeavoring to find a good blog rhythm. But, because I love it so much, I couldn't pass on the Newsflash this week!

They did science on 112,000 people. Over a 20-year period, 25% of them developed basal cell carcinoma - skin cancer. They found that the participants who drank coffee (2 cups or more a day), were much less likely to be in that group of cancer people. Caffeine is the key element in this finding. So, friends, it's Friday morning. I'm guzzling down the coffees. It's all about cancer prevention. All about it. Also, if I ever decide to go in a tanning bed, I'm just going to Britney Spears out and bring a giant Frappucino in there with me. ...I'm actually a little excited about that.

According to science, you need to eat fat-based salad dressings to get the most nutrients out of the vegetables. The right combination of vegetables and fatty stuff helped people digest the most of the good things in the veggies. Salad with fat-free dressing is lower in calories, but the absence of fat causes the loss of some of the benefits of eating vegetables. I'm sure there are more details to know, but I'm writing thick and chunky bleu cheese dressing on my grocery list right now. It's the best.

"I eat cupcakes and I don't work out. But if you ask me in 10 years, I'm going to regret answering that way now. I don't even drink water. It's terrible." -- "unhealthy" person, Blake Lively

I call B.S. Give me a break. That body has spent some time fasting and on the elliptical. Let's be real here for a second. I hate reading stuff like this. It makes the rest of us spinning/running/dieting our buns off just feel like idiots, right? What a B.

5.Mermaids aren't real. Smart ocean people recently did an official study on this and determined there's no evidence to support that mermaids have ever existed. Some show on Animal Planet explores whether or not there is a kernel of truth to the myth. The answer is no. No signs of "aquatic humanoids" have ever been found. Womp, womp. Science can be such a jerk. Why can't they let us dream. Whatever, SPLASH FOREVER!

Yes, it is an animated representation of feminine odor. WHAT THE HELL? While it's actually a pretty tasteful way to discuss smelly vaginas, who conceived of it? Like who sat down and had to brainstorm how to make Pixar-style lady funk? Idk, but I might need that job.

Well, that's all folks. This weekend I'm bopping down to my home in Houston to celebrate a belated father's day and spend some time with the parentals. Excited to go home and relax. Have a wonderful weekend!

Today, as I'm battling the grogginess and haze that comes with a mid-week America-themed bender, I'm feeling extra thankful for all my fabulous friends.

Yesterday I had a relaxing afternoon of pool and grilling, followed by a glorious evening fireworks show in downtown Austin. Hot dogs and pie were consumed. MMMMM. I'm a lucky little lady to be American and surrounded by so many other great Americans. Here's a little photo recap..

Ladies at the pool, minus one

...things might have started to get a little rowdy. It's America day, what do you expect?